pictures

spring cleaning.

4 May 2014 / pictures, ronni, spring

Well, I finally did something I’d been meaning to do for months, if not years. And that was to DECLUTTER MY CLOTHING. You do not want to see the condition my bedroom was in by the time Thursday morning rolled around. Luckily for you, I didn’t bother to take photos. Believe me, this is better for all of us.

Surprisingly enough, it didn’t take all that long. First, it was all about separating the dirty clothing from the clean clothing, and that was easy. The dirty stuff was all on the floor. Then, it was all about getting rid of the stuff I didn’t want to wear anymore, that didn’t fit, or that I never plan to fit into again because it was all way too big for me now. I was so amazed at how different an XS from 2014 is from an XS from 2004. From the same store!

I managed to fill up four large bags with sweaters, pants, shirts, and more to donate. My next project is to sort out the summer clothing. I know there are a lot of embarrassingly ugly shorts and tops hiding in those two bins I have, and I just need to let them go.

LIKE THIS ONE:

WHAT MADE ME THINK THAT WAS CUTE?
Seriously?

Me to my past self: Oh, honey. No.

Basically, most of that trip, as fun as it was, was a fashion FAIL (for me, anyway. at least aidan looked cute).

I’m not just getting rid of the ugly stuff. There is plenty of cute stuff in those bags. They just don’t look right on me anymore, or they no longer fit. Some of the sweaters were hard to let go of.

The cool part was that in the midst of cleaning and clearing, I found a jacket, a sweater, and a top that I’d been wondering about for a long time. (Unfortunately, I did not find my Life Planner. I think it’s really gone. *sad face*) There’s a weight off my chest because I’ve accomplished something I’d wanted to for a long time. I’ll be really glad once I have the summer clothes done as well. And I will TRY to control myself with buying new stuff. Especially when I wear the same things over and over anyway.

Spring is always sort of an awakening for me. In winter, I wanted to lie around and sleep all the time. Not so much these days. Adam’s been surprised at how “early” I’ve been getting up. (Which, to be honest, isn’t all that early for normal people, but for ME, it is!) I went out for a short walk Saturday so I could take pictures of the blossoming trees down the street (and pick up the new menu from the newly relocated and expanded sushi restaurant that I always get my sushi from). I bought a bunch of books from Half Price Books and between that, the library, and ebooks, I’ve been reading like a madwoman. Oh wait, I guess that part is not new.

I’ve started taking vitamins again–calcium and vitamin D, and biotin (so my hair can grow even longer). As the days grow warmer and longer I plan to spend more time outside. And I have GOT to get back to a regular yoga practice. I haven’t neglected my practice this long since I worked at Schawk. And I remembered how unhappy with how I looked and felt back then. No bueno, Ronni. I don’t want to go back to that place.

And so I won’t.

That’s all for now. I’ve also started taking melatonin to help me sleep at night, and I think it’s starting to kick in. So… good night.

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in my bag.

2 May 2014 / life, pictures, ronni

Here’s what’s in my bag for May 2014.

– water bottle
– various snack bars (NuGo, LUNA, etc.)
– lip balm (this one is Lavender from Young Living)
– face powder (Cover Girl CG Smoothers in medium)
– Tic Tacs (orange because Paulie Bleeker knew what was up)
– wallet
– checkbook
– keys
– assorted pens
– composition book
– idea book
– planner (Life Planner is STILL MIA so I got a new one… but it’s so not the same)
– phone
– iPod
– tissues

What’s in your bag these days?

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slow bloom.

27 April 2014 / life, pictures, ronni

The temperatures are slowly climbing, then sinking, then climbing, then sinking. Spring always comes very slowly to Chicago, but this year it’s been the slowest I’ve ever seen it. The trees are just now starting to make leaves. And it’s still too chilly for me!

But at least the temperatures ARE rising. That’s something to be grateful for. And we’ve had a few sneak peaks of what’s to come once the weather breaks for good, and it was nice. I even wore shorts out one day. Loved it.

Aidan had his Spring break already and we had a lot of fun. He’s such an awesome kid. Eating everything and all the time now. Definitely growing. Almost too fast!

My friend Tami asked how does Aidan keep looking older but I never age? 🙂 Me looking so young used to be my nemesis when I was a teenager. Now I love it. The reaction when I tell people my age never ever gets old.

Although I’m seeing more grey hairs than I used to.

I’ve been experimenting with makeup. I’ve been pretty much makeup free for years, but recently I’ve been playing with colors again. I like to stay pretty light and natural, but sometimes I want to do dramatic things with my eyes to make them pop. The funny thing is that what I do is definitely not all that dramatic! I don’t do the winged eyeliner or the smokey eye or anything like that. But I am falling for eyeliner and all the funny colors they have. So I’ve been having fun with that. In this picture, I’m wearing eye liner, shadow, and mascara.

If I do anything to my eyes, that’s pretty much all I do. But I change up the eye liner colors and the shadow colors sometimes, just to see what I can see. Oh and concealer under my eyes to mask the dark circles? Priceless.

I’ve been feeling ungrounded because I lost my life planner. I KNOW. I got a Bloom planner as a substitute but it’s sooo not the same. I miss my big ole life planner with all its spaces to write and put things. I know it has to be somewhere in this apartment–I don’t believe I took it outside in a long time. The last I remember having it was April 1, on the couch or in the bedroom. So it has to be around here.

Now, my room is a hot falling down mess, and I just need to clean it and I’m sure the thing will turn up. But yeah. Cleaning. Hmm. I’ll have a lot of time to devote to *that* particular chore next weekend.

I’ve been working onsite for VSA, entertaining guests, and getting used to driving my car again. It hadn’t been moved since November, so needless to say, it was pretty dead. And one of the back wheels was stuck. That was due to brake issues. The battery just needed a good recharge, which it got while I was waiting for the tow truck to take Little Ronica to the garage a few weeks ago. Now she’s all fixed and running again, and I drove her around a bit today. Feels good to drive again. I do enjoy driving, but only when the traffic is light or I’m out in the country and it’s night.

There was a s00j show last week and it was awesome! And I got to see her at the end of March as well. I always love hanging out with her and with Ryan. 🙂

s00j rehearsing with Alexander James Adams

Yuck. I have to apologize for the picture quality. For some reason, my iPhone’s camera has been failing a lot, even in natural light, and I don’t know why. It’s a decent camera and I used to get really great pictures with it. I think part of the problem is that I need to quit using the “enhance” tool in the phone. That makes it all grainy and yucky. And… I just need to get used to carrying around my DSLR or my point and shoot again. I just can’t with these grainy yucky photos anymore.

For example. This should have been a super cool photo:

My friend Hilary came over and we made lavender incense. This was all the herbs and resins she used. Lavender, myrrh, rose, and more. It looked so pretty. And this picture looks like crap. Bah. It’s time for me to make the good camera my primary camera again. Yep.

Other than that, nothing much as been going on. I’ve been craving sushi all the time as usual. We’ve been eating at a cool placed called Chi-Town Eatery. The guys who work there are super cool. Yesterday I ate at Sunrise Cafe and had the best grilled cheese sandwich of my life. It had cheddar cheese, brie, and swiss, and ham on sourdough. And tator tots on the side. SO MUCH YUM. (Adam and I eat out a LOT.)

May is going to be so busy! I have something planned for almost every weekend, and I’ll probably be getting in some freelance work (which is good, more $$ is always good!). I’m working onsite for VSA again, and acting classes start up again May 6. There’s a retreat, travel to Normal, IL, and visiting friends. I will try to take a lot of photos, and also try to figure out WTF is going on with my phone camera that photos are coming out so crappy suddenly.

And… I think that’s all for now. I now have a purring kitty on my lap and he’s also trying to hold my hand down so I can stop typing and pay him attention I presume. So, till next time….

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everywhere and nowhere.

22 March 2014 / acting, california, celebrity, family, friends, pictures, ronni

Well, it’s been a busy 12 days. I’ve had two acting classes since I last wrote, had a cold and gotten over it, and traveled to Los Angeles.

Acting is going well. My scene partner and I were really in the flow and we got some really nice compliments on our last two performances. And then, last Tuesday, the teacher said he’d want to do a One Act of the play and use me and Gabe. That, my friends, is super high praise, and almost brought me to tears. The best part is that I had so much fun working on the scene. I loved my character, I loved the situation, I loved working with Gabe. I am finally learning, slowly but surely, to let go. To take big risks. To go BALLS OUT. It’s paying off and reminding me why I went back into acting.

I’ve been assigned a new scene and a new partner. This one is super challenging and I’m really going to have to dig to figure out what the heck. But you know what? Bring it. Bring it all the way on. I’m learning how to work and research and analyze. This can’t do anything but help me. So… God help me.

Earlier this week, I did something crazy! I flew all the way to Los Angeles to attend a special screening of the movie Divergent. The screening was through All It Takes, a charity started by Shailene Woodley and her mom that helps train children to become leaders. I wish I’d have had camps like that when I was younger!

I figured if I was going all the way out there, I was going big, so I sprung for the VIP package so I could meet some of the actors from the movie! I was so excited I could barely sleep! I got a new outfit and everything.

I was absolutely heartbroken that the main actor I wanted to see–Theo James–did NOT attend the after party, and I’m still not over it. I really, really, really wanted to meet him. You guys have no idea. Maybe you do. Whatever. But honestly, the number of near misses I have with him is getting out of hand. I’d like to just MEET HIM ALREADY OK Universe???

I did see him introduce the movie which… meh. I wanted to actually talk to him. Maybe someday. *sigh* I mean seriously, Universe. Get on that please and thank you.

Anyway, I did get to meet many other actors from the movie, including Shailene Woodley, who is the star. She is a total sweetheart. She seemed so excited that I’d traveled from Chicago for the event. Gave me tons of hugs. It was so cute when she introduced herself to me, as if I didn’t know who she was.

me and shailene woodley
she’s a sister on that priestess path

I met Christian Madsen, Ben Lloyd-Hughes, Amy Newbold, and the author of the series, Veronica Roth. I had the most fun talking to Christian, Amy, and Shai. I also met Shai’s mom, Lori, who is just as huggy and sweet as her daughter is.

(I apologize in advance for the picture quality. The lighting was dim and I was using my phone. Sometimes the iPhone 5 takes lovely photos. Unfortunately, this was not one of those times.)

me and christian madsen, who plays al in the movie
really awesome guy, fun and super easy to talk to

me and ben lloyd-hughes, who plays will in the movie
we are fuzzy

me and amy newbold, who plays molly in the movie
absolute doll
(and jai courtney, who plays eric, in the background!)

me and veronica roth, author of the divergent series

While I was in Los Angeles, I spent time with some friends and family. I got to see Amy, who I hadn’t seen since 2009. I always have such a good time hanging out with Amy. We’ve known each other for nearly 14 years, a fact which blows my mind.

me and amy

I also got to see my brother- and sister-in-law, and we ate lunch at a really yummy place called Stacked. Basically, you order everything custom, you do it in an iPad from your table. It’s amazing. I could get exactly what I wanted. I got pulled pork with pickles and fries, and IT WAS DELICIOUS. I didn’t take a picture of my food, but I did get a picture with Eli and Melissa. I look like I’m in pain. It’s just me not being used to all that lovely sunshine.

Let me tell you something. The second I stepped out of the airport into that mild, sunny weather, I felt like myself again. I felt like and free and happy. I knew the winter was hard on me, but I had no idea how hard. The weather was a lovely 87F and I soaked it all up like a dry plant needing water. The hot sun felt so good on my skin, and the light breeze was perfect. The sky was a deep blue, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. It was absolutely beautiful. I even spent some time by the pool at my hotel, just letting the sun warm me all over. I loved it.

I miss the heat.

And the views.

And the overall beauty out there. Mountains, beaches, the sky. I kept telling Amy how lucky she is to have all those pretty mountains to look at, although driving on them would be scary as hell! All the twists and turns and cliffs? DUDE. I also miss the cool people I met out there. It was a great night of connecting… I hope we all meet again someday.

LA obviously agrees with me. I wish I could afford to live out there. Not even necessarily to pursue acting or anything. Just to be in all that lovely sunshine, to have that beach, the Pacific ocean, the bright blue sky all the time. Not to mention, being so close to Disneyland. La la la, maybe someday.

I’m ready to go somewhere else now. I don’t think Adam understands the extent of my wanderlust. He’s like “We’re going to Jekyll this summer,” and I’m all like “I CAN’T WAIT UNTIL THIS SUMMER TO GO SOMEWHERE ELSE I WANT TO TRAVEL NOW!” I’ve been looking at the Living Social Escapes and being so tempted to book one of those packages that includes flights and everything. I really want to travel out of the country.

Someday, I will.

Till next time…..

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up and down and around and around.

28 February 2014 / life, living in chicago, pictures

Airborne. ?? #latergram flying to Cleveland to surprise my mommy @lenorakita and Aidan for Valentines Day. ??

Finally! It is the last day of February. Believe me, I am not sad to see this bitterly cold month go! Right now, even though the temp says it’s 30F, I’m buried under an electric blanket, trying to get warm. I am looking forward to summer more than ever. (I also don’t think that particular temp gauge is quite right–another one says 19F, which is what it feels more like.)

I haven’t posted in a while, so here’s what I’ve gotten myself in to the past few weeks:

one

I flew to Cleveland to surprise Aidan and my mom for Valentine’s Day. Oh, it was so genius. Chris and I came up with the idea sometime last month. He was taking Aidan to visit her for the long weekend. I booked a flight into Hopkins, and Chris picked me up from there. Aidan’s face when he saw me was priceless! Then… we drove out to Twinsburgh, where my mom was waiting outside the door for Aidan and Chris. She realized there was a third person with them, but didn’t notice it was me until I was up close, but she was so happy! 🙂 It was a fun surprise.

It was a fun long weekend. I gorged myself on reality television, ate good food (mmm greens) and saw some friends. I hadn’t seen Charla in nearly 10 years, so it was so nice to catch up with her. And I got to hang out with my friend Amy, who I email with all the time. I saw some of my favorite cousins, and really had fun talking to them, eating good food, and just hanging out.

While I was there, a snowstorm came. My flight would have been delayed hours. So, I just switched my flight to the next day, and Aidan and I got an extra day with my mommy. 🙂

two

Acting class. I’m still at it somehow. I honestly want to quit all the time because it is so hard. So, so hard. I’ve spent so many years silencing my voice that it’s hard for me to stop hiding. But then I have a day like today, when I start to break through, and people tell me I did a good job, and I FEEL that I did a good job… that I love it. I can’t stop. I know if I quit, I will hate myself. I can’t stop, I won’t stop, no matter how many bad days I have. Because no one ever said this journey would be easy. I don’t even know what’s at the end of it. I just know I need to stay doing it. I need to keep pulling out what I used to bring so easily when I was younger. Who knows what will happen if I keep going?

I got a new scene assignment and partner a few weeks ago. This time, I’m working on a comedy: The Visitor from Forest Hills from Plaza Suite by Neil Simon. I always pictured myself as a drama girl, but I am loving working on this comedy. I’m having fun with it!

But now we’re starting with Shakespeare. I don’t know about you, but Shakespeare scares the hot poop out of me. It terrifies me. But I’m going to do it.

three

Even though I know this won’t help my career in acting–if I decide to pursue one–I still enjoy doing background roles. In the acting world, anyone serious about it won’t settle for background work. Really, an extra is nothing but a prop. But I enjoy being on set, meeting people, and learning what I can about filming. I make friends and we keep in touch and hopefully see each other on more sets.

This past Tuesday, I got the chance to do some background work for NBC’s Crisis, which premieres March 16. I It’s the first TV show I’ve done and I hope I get the chance to do more. Maybe one day I’ll be a special guest with an actual speaking role. No harm in dreaming, right? 🙂

Other things:
– Still obsessed with Odesza.
– Still trying to reduce my meat intake.
– Still trying to fight the depression. Some days it’s a lot easier than others.
– Making new friends in my acting class? Awesome.
– NEED to get my car jumped and running again. It’s been in the same place since December. It’s dead. The weather killed it.

I’m looking forward to Spring. Even though it won’t FEEL like Spring here for a long time, at least the calendar will say it is soon. And maybe the weather will catch up sooner than later.

Now it’s off to do a workout DVD. Paula Abdul, NYC Ballet, or Rodney Yee yoga? I guess we’ll see.

Till next time!

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